


Heroes

by sabstar



Category: Jeresa - Fandom, Queen of the South, Queen of the South (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fantasy, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 12:03:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18872842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabstar/pseuds/sabstar
Summary: Happily ever after was bullshit to Teresa, until she met Guero.He was the prince of her childhood brought to life, with his long hair and chiseled jawline. A small part of her believed that she was the real-life Cinderella- plucked from poverty and saved by her handsome prince. Guero took her from rags to riches, and the palaces from her old storybook were not that different from the mansions they lived in together.





	Heroes

Teresa Mendoza did not care for fairytales. 

She used to rely on them- every night she would refuse to go to sleep until her papa told her a story. He called her mamma his princess, and Teresa believed that one day she would also be saved by a handsome prince.

The illusion was shattered since the massacre at her first communion. She had drifted to the orphanages, and when she finally became the money changer from Sinaloa, and the innocent girl who believed in the stories her papa would tell at night was gone.

Happily ever after was bullshit to Teresa, until she met Guero.

He was the prince of her childhood brought to life, with his long hair and chiseled jawline. A small part of her believed that she was the real-life Cinderella- plucked from poverty and saved by her handsome prince. Guero took her from rags to riches, and the palaces from her old storybook were not that different from the mansions they lived in together. 

Guero would buy her anything she wanted. Gucci bag, Prada heels, Burberry perfume- the sky was the limit. It felt too good to be true. She was living in a dream, and never wanted to wake up. 

Camilla Vargas had other plans. 

Teresa knew the world she was living in, and she knew how to survive. The only thing she didn’t know how to do was stay in her place, which was in Camilla’s shadow. 

She eventually out shined the queen, making deals with El Santo and King George. Camilla no longer saw her as her pretty protege, but the greatest threat to her empire. 

Teresa was used to running. That didn’t mean that she liked it. 

When Pote and Teresa finally escaped to Malta he teased her by calling her Snow White. They were running from a queen, after all. He meant it as a joke but when the underworld began calling her la princesa she realized he wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t what she imagined from her papa’s storybook, but she did become royalty. 

——————————————————————————————————————————------------------------------------------------

“… and then the dashing prince defeated the evil dragon and gave Sleeping Beauty true love’s kiss. Can you guess what happened next, mija?”

“They lived happily ever after, mama,” her daughter replied, looking up at her mother with the warmest pair of brown eyes.

“Really? That’s not the story I remember,” James said, leaning against the doorframe. Teresa smiled at her husband and rolled her eyes.

“What do you mean daddy?,” the little girl asked. 

“Well, sometimes it’s the princess who defeats the evil dragon and saves the prince. That’s what happened for your mom and me.”

Teresa went over from her daughter’s bedside and slowly kissed her husband. When she found out the C.I.A had taken him she went through hell and back to get him back safe and in her arms. 

“He’s right. Princesses are the heroes too, lucky for your dad.”

The little girl giggled, and both of her parents hearts melted at the sound. 

“We’ll see you in the morning, love,” Teresa told her daughter as James tucked her in and handed her her favorite stuffed animal, a plush pink poodle Pote had given her on her sixth birthday. 

Finally, they had gotten their happily ever after. 

——————————————————————————————————————————-------------------------------------------------

“Tere, wake up! It’s all okay, love,” James said as he held his wife close to his chest, rubbing her back and placing a delicate kiss on her forehead. 

Teresa gave into his touch, unable to stop the tears or her nose running. 

The clock on their bedside table read three am. It had happened again. 

“It was just a dream. And you didn’t wake her up,” James said, nodding in the direction of their daughters room. 

Teresa would never forget the absolute shame she felt about a month ago when her daughter heard her screaming in the middle of the night- and having to explain in a way that she could understand that adults got nightmares too.

“I’m just so…” Teresa started saying before she began shaking uncontrollably, falling into James’s steady frame even deeper. 

“Shh, you should not feel embarrassed. I have PTSD too, it’s natural. After the war I would wake up like this every night and when I opened up to you about it, things got a little better.”

“James, it’s not the same kind of…”

“Tere, you can trust me. You can open up to me. We’ve faced everything together, how is this any different?”

Teresa covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. 

“Our daughter thinks I’m a hero in her storybooks. Saving the kingdom and being woken from an enchanted sleep. But I’m the villain. I’m the evil that needs to be defeated.”

James took her hands, his expression unreadable.

“How can you say that?”

“James, I’m a drug dealer. At the end of the day no matter how much we pretend that we’re a normal family we’ve made all of our money through violence. The foundation of her entire life is a lie- and when she finds out the truth it might be too late.”

“Too late for what?” 

“For her to see me as her hero.”

James paused for a moment, running a hand over his face, which Teresa knew was his tactic for preventing her from seeing his eyes grow watery. 

“Our daughter is not going to end up like Isabella Vargas. You are not Camilla. I am not Epifanio.”

He paused for a moment, softly kissing her on the lips and pulling her into his lap. 

“Teresa, we both did what we had to do to survive. I have regrets, sure, but I also did everything I could to make a better life. And all of the ugliness eventually turned into something beautiful- our family.”

“But don’t you ever wish we could have done things a different way? Without so much bloodshed?”

“Everyday. But you can’t blame yourself. Blame Guero. Blame Camilla. Blame all of the people who tried to hurt you for their own gain.”

“I could have made different choices. I could have at least tried too…”

“If you say one more bad thing about yourself I’m going to lose it. You’re a survivor, Teresa. And you always have been. You are the hero of the story, even if it didn’t play out the way you wanted.”

A slow smile started to form on her tear streaked face. James really did love her, even after everything she’s done. 

“Teresa,” he continued, “you have to start seeing yourself the way that I see you.”

She looked at her husband lovingly, if James could see past all of her sins why couldn’t she?

“I love you, James.”

“I know,” he said, which made Teresa crack up and swing her arm at him. 

“But I think that we can do more. To make sure that no one has to go through what we went through.”

James looked at her inquisitively. 

“What exactly are you proposing?”

“I don’t know, but we have more money then we know what to do with. We should use it to make the world a little less ugly.”

“Well, you know that I’m in, as long as we do it together.”

“Together,” Teresa repeated, as she hugged James close and closed her eyes- ready for a restful night and ready for the next chapter in her story to begin.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
